THE LOST LAMB
General
Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1888) is considered as the 'Father of Modern Italy'.
He was a great hero and patriot who fought for a unified Italy. One evening, in
1861, while marching along a mountainous area with his troops, he came across a
poor Sardinian shepherd in great
distress who was lamenting the loss of a lamb from his flock. Garibaldi
consoled him and promised to find the lost lamb. He immediately commanded his
troops to organize an operation to search the whole mountain ranges and recover
the missing lamb. The troops eagerly
searched the whole area carrying lighted lanterns but could not find the lost
lamb anywhere. They returned empty handed and reported to the General that the
lamb could not be traced. They abandoned the futile search and retired to the
quarters one by one.
The
next morning, Garibaldi's attendant found that the General was still in bed
much longer than his usual schedule. Garibaldi used to rise up earlier than
anyone in the camp. The attendant awoke him. He rubbed his eyes and brought out
from his blanket the little lamb lost by the shepherd. He had continued the
search throughout the night even though his soldiers had stopped the search and
gone to bed. The compassionate heart of the great General was full of pity for
the poor and helpless shepherd and his lost little lamb. Hence he could not
stop the search or go to sleep. He searched throughout the night till he could
finally find the missing lamb. He bid his attendant to convey the good news and
carry the lamb to the shepherd immediately.
Jesus taught the parable
of the lost sheep. The shepherd who lost one of his hundred sheep goes looking
for the lost one until he finds it and then carries it on his shoulders back
home to celebrate its successful recovery {Luke 15: 4-7}.
Jesus said, "I am
the good shepherd, who is willing to die for the sheep" {John 10: 11}. The Holy Bible compares
sinners to lost sheep {Isaiah 53:
6}. Jesus continues to seek lost souls until He finds them and redeems them. Jesus
laid down His life to redeem the sinful humanity.
St. Peter teaches,
"Christ Himself carried our sins in His body to the cross, so that we
might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by His wounds that you have
been healed. You were like sheep that had lost their way, but now you have been
brought back to follow the Shepherd and Keeper of your souls" {1 Peter 2: 24, 25}.
.................................................................................................................
© By: Dr. Babu Philip,
Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue,
Kochi-682016, Kerala, India, Prof.
Mrs. Rajamma Babu, Former Professor, St. Dominic's
College, Kanjirappally, Leo. S. John and Neil John, Maniparambil, Ooriyakunnath, Kunnumbhagom, Kanjirappally,
Kottayam-686507, Kerala, India.
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